Welcome back! Today we continue our Throwback Thursday series (yep, on Friday), because I have more photos to share with you from the early years! If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, check out yesterday’s post, containing my earliest photography work! We’re taking a journey down memory lane all summer as I share this early photography and sessions I’ve photographed over the last couple years. Onward! 

2014
Engagements and Weddings and Families, oh my!

Moving your business to another state after taking a year-long break is no joke. I wish I could bring all the momentum I had in 2014 and 2015 right on down here to Raleigh! 2014 contained a lot of photography goodness – engagements and weddings, graduates, families, a styled shoot, and even a session to take photos for a book cover! Simply click on a photo to view it larger.

2015
The goodness continues with graduates, weddings, families, and babies!

If the going was good, why’d you take a break?

Late 2014, my husband Andrew and I found ourselves feeling called toward longer-term missions. We left our jobs and I put photography on pause in the summer of 2015. From August 2015 to the end of July 2016, we lived in Houston, TX and participated in Mission Year! Mission Year is a non-denominational organization with 8 core values: justice, solidarity, community, faith, neighborhood, diversity, service, and partnership. We lived in an under-resourced neighborhood in the heart of Houston (about a mile away from a neighborhood containing mansions) and lived in solidarity with our neighbors by having a limited grocery budget, going to a laundromat to do laundry, using public transportation or walking everywhere, not having in-home internet or tv, etc. We volunteered in the community Mon. – Thurs. and spent most of the rest of our time getting to know our neighbors, listening to their stories, and having them over for dinner. It was a truly transformative year, and that experience shaped our lives moving forward a lot!

We carry along many of the same values and try to love on our neighbors in Raleigh as much as we can. We even moved out here with our friend Maggie from Mission Year, to continue living in intentional community. We probably would have stayed in Houston for a while longer, but we wanted to set down roots and settle in somewhere, and halfway across the country was a little too far from family. We decided to settle in Raleigh and are LOVING it. This is where our home is, and by extension, this is also where my photography business is now!

As I shared before, each Thursday this summer, I’ll be revisiting sessions I’ve photographed since moving to Raleigh (2016 – present). Since I didn’t have an active website or blog at the time of those sessions, I’ve only shared a few photos from each, but I want to share more!

Stay tuned for the Throwback Thursday posts, and also be on the lookout for posts about other things on Mondays! Thank you all, always, for your support!

In light & love,
Kelly